AB

28 Comment | Alexandra Chin
A century to celebrate
As ACCA opens its 100th office, in Turkey, ACCA president Alexandra Chin reflects on
the long journey to this significant milestone and why it matters to members
While ACCA celebrated its own 100th
anniversary back in 2004, this year we
have another century to celebrate after
opening our 100th office, in Turkey.
When I read this news in the draft of
our latest integrated report (due to be
published in late July), I began reflecting
on how far ACCA has come. Back in 1904,
eight accountants founded the London
Association of Accountants, the forerunner
of ACCA. From just eight to 178,000
members; from one office in London
to 100, covering every major city in the
world, and then some. That is quite an
accomplishment, and a collective journey
to where we are now – the number one
global body for professional accountants.
As we’ve grown, we’ve changed – and
changed the world at the same time. For
example, 1909 saw ACCA’s Ethel Ayres
Purdie become the first woman to belong
to a professional accountancy body. And
what Purdie started, we’ve continued.
Today, 54% of ACCA’s student body
is female. That’s a quarter of a million
ambitious, motivated young women
embarking on a career in business. That is
diversity in action – that is ACCA in action.
Shortly after Purdie joined, in 1913,
ACCA opened an office in South Africa, its
first outside the UK, followed by one in the
country of my birth, Malaysia; just two years
later it was the turn of Singapore. From
1950 onwards, offices sprang up around the
world more and more quickly – Hong Kong,
Zimbabwe, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana,
Membership can
be a gateway to a
whole new world
of experiences,
achievements
and professional
development
Nigeria and Malawi – right up to this year
when Helen Brand, our chief executive,
opened our newest office in Turkey.
ACCA has always been an organisation
of firsts – thinking ahead in order to stay
ahead. Pioneering is part of our DNA. It
isn’t easy because it means doing things
no one else has ever done. We can all
be immensely proud of being part of a
professional body unafraid to do things
first – often in places where others fear
to tread. Just last month we announced
we will be helping the ministry of finance
in Afghanistan to train 1,000 professional
accountants in the country. I hope and
expect to see an ACCA office opened
there too in the coming years.
These offices are more than just a
number. Membership can be a gateway
to a whole new world of experiences,
achievements and professional – not to
mention personal – development. As
ACCA expands, so we make that journey
possible for more people.
On a day-to-day basis, regional
offices are an invaluable touch-point for
members like me. The people I have met
and the friends I have made through the
office in Malaysia, and the many others
I’ve visited over the 30 years since I
qualified as an ACCA member, have given
me some of my most cherished memories.
Knowing how much value I have taken
from my own local office, I would urge
each and every one of you to engage with
yours as much as you can. All these offices
have been created to better support us –
ACCA’s members and students. Here’s to
the next 100! ■
Alexandra Chin runs her own practice in
Sabah, Malaysia
Accounting and Business 07/2016